‘Mainstream politics is all rubbish’ – Interview with K G Kannabiran, president of the People’s Union of Civil Liberties

K G Kannabiran, president of the People’s Union of Civil Liberties(PUCL), has devoted his life to fighting for people’s rights. He isone of the leading lawyers in Andhra Pradesh, and has taken up thelegal cudgels against the state’s attempts to suppress the people’smovements and curtail the people’s right to protest. He has beeninvolved with the Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee since itsinception 38 years ago and has fought every major legal case involvingrevolutionary poets, balladeers, fighters and sympathisers.

He was the moving spirit behind the setting up of the Concerned Citizens’Committee that facilitated peace talks in 2004 between the governmentand People’s War Naxalites, as the Maoists were known then. DeccanHerald spoke to Kannabiran (72) on the fallout of the war being wagedby the Andhra Pradesh government against Maoists and the consequentmowing down of eight Maoists, including the state committee secretaryof CPI (Maoist) Madhav in the Nallamalla forests on July 23.What do you make of the Nallamalla encounter?

For the last 35-40 years, the government has been gunning down peopleand terming them encounters. This episode is nothing new. It wasstarted by (former Chief Minister Jalagam) Vengal Rao – the Naxaliteproblem was handed over to the police department. Today, the policedepartment is not neutral. It has a vision which is anti-Naxalite.This is no different from Hitler’s strategy of converting the policedepartment into a political organ that hounded Jews. This policy isdespicable and dangerous to democracy and human rights.How have the AP police silenced people’s protests?

The political character that the police department has assumed hasreached the point that vigilante groups have been engaged to killNaxalite supporters. They use indigenous weapons like the axe andsword and leave the weapon on the body (apparently as a warning toothers). It’s a deliberate act to terrorise people and silence them.After the murder of (rights activist) Kanakachary in Mahbubnagar (twoyears ago) the superintendent of police told the APCLC’s vice–president Hargopal to close down the Karuvu Vyatireka Samiti. It’svery unfortunate that an anti-hunger, anti-drought group was closeddown. Everybody has lost the courage to protest.

Do you think the peace talks of 2004 between the Naxals and Congressgovernment worked to the disadvantage of Maoists?

The Congress cleverly used the promise of talks with Naxalites byincorporating it in its manifestos to come to power. The people wantedpeace – this issue was one of the factors for the TDP’s defeat. Afterthe elections, the Congress, which is experienced in skulduggery, usedthe period of peace talks to go over Nallamalla forests (theirhideout) with a toothcomb. The government behaved in a dastardlymanner. Right from the beginning, they wanted to take advantage of the`peace time’.On hindsight, do you now think it was not the right thing to do topursue peace talks?

No, not really, but we unwittingly played a treacherous role inbelieving the bonafides of the government. While the Naxalites werehere (in Hyderabad) for the talks, the (anti-Naxal police force)Greyhounds went to Nallamalla, spotted the hideouts and gained astrategic advantage. What is objectionable is that this happened afterthe Naxals were involved in the peace talks.

Was nothing achieved by the talks?

I won’t say we achieved nothing. It was the people’s pressure thatbrought the government and Maoists to the table to talk peace. Thatwas a victory for democracy.Did the Maoists really believe they would achieve anything through talks?

The Maoists honestly thought something would come out of the talks.They hoped to achieve at least land distribution. It they had achievedthis then they would have achieved one of their main objectiveswithout firing even one shot.

Will the elimination of Maoist leaders hit the movement?

No, the movement won’t be affected. This has gone on for 38 years.There will always be people driven by a desire for a better life,better society and a better country through alternative methodsbecause mainstream politics is all rubbish. Nobody can call thisgovernment, either at the State or the Centre, a democracy. It is ananarchic situation.Were you hopeful after the peace talks?

Somewhere along the way, I felt once we initiated a democratic processit might have a multiplier effect. And the eight months of peace talkswere the most peaceful period in the state. The peace talks gave mehope that we would be able to have genuine democracy, improveconditions of the people and fight against globalisation.Do you think of late the various people’s movements have been weakenedin some way?

After economic reforms and globalisation, the human rights movementhas split… some think globalisation is good, some think it isn’t. Themovement has not only stagnated but also become fragmented like childrights, dalit rights, women rights and so on. Human rights is notperceived as an indivisible whole. All these issues are not linkedholistically with the human rights structure.Then should all the issues be brought under one umbrella?

Each issue has become something like property. The competitive ethicspermeate the civil society movements. Each is confined to its own areaand to its own fights. They should remember that a fragment cannotinspire democratic culture. Besides, the government has incorporatedNGOs under various guises which is part of a strategy to silencepeople’s voices and concerns.

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